Funeral services set for longtime Canton councilman

Thursday

Arthur J. Cirelli served on City Council for more than 30 years and for the Timken Co. for 43 years.

Committed city councilman and tireless worker. That’s how government officials and family described Arthur J. Cirelli.

Cirelli served as a Ward 5 councilman for around 30 years, including several years as majority leader. And he worked in the Timken Co. bearings factory for 43 years as a tool and die maker before retiring in 1986.

Cirelli, 85, died Wednesday following a lengthy illness. Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at St. Mary Catholic Church. Calling hours are 6-8 tonight at Welch-Sekeres-Lewis Funeral Home.

Living on Dueber Avenue SW in the shadow of one of the Timken plants, Cirelli used to walk to work carrying a lunch bucket.

‘JOE DINNER BUCKET’

Councilman Bill Smuckler, D-at large, who served on council with Cirelli in the 1980s, said Cirelli took that same approach in city government.

When Cirelli retired from council in the 1990s, he was presented with a lunch pail inscribed with what was perhaps the councilman’s signature phrase: “Joe Dinner Bucket.”

Former Councilman Donald Casar said the term symbolized how much Cirelli cared about working-class residents.

“When I think of Art Cirelli, I think of him as a friend and a passionate public servant,” Casar said.

Smuckler agreed. “Art had the ethnic responsibility of hard work that was taught in his family,” he said. “And he took everything so seriously, that when he was supposed to be at work at City Council, he was at work at City Council.

“I remember days when he was as sick as a dog and he was there.”

Born in Italy, Cirelli was a proud American, said his daughter, Cathi Johanning.

“He loved this country and everything it stood for,” she said. “And I just think he took it very seriously — it was his civic responsibility to do all he could.”

Cirelli also expected council members to uphold a certain dress code.

“He believed in serious debate and he believed that you looked and dressed the part,” Smuckler said. “If some young rookie came to council not wearing a suit and tie, you heard about it.”

Smuckler said that Cirelli’s working-class approach was evident from his heavy involvement in the Water Department.

Cirelli advocated extending lines outside the city limits; non-Canton customers were charged a higher service rate, saving money for city residents, Smuckler said. A building housing city offices on 30th Street NW, including water billing, is named after Cirelli.

PASSIONATE COUNCILMAN

Cirelli did not shy away from fierce political debate, Smuckler said. He was passionate. He raised his voice on occasion. But he did not shout, insult others or pound his fist, Smuckler said.

Rarely did Cirelli overflow with emotion. Among the few times: At his council retirement party and his daughter’s wedding.

Johanning says her dad could be gruff. But beneath that rough exterior was a man who cared deeply for his city and family. Cirelli’s wife, Joan, died in 2003. They had been married since 1951.

“He wasn’t a terribly huggy, touchy-feely type of person,” Johanning said. “But he was always there; if there was anything I needed, he would jump to do it.”

Still today, she’s touched by her dad’s gesture to name an alley after her — Cathi Court SW. Johanning, 47, says her father worked hard at every task.

“He built a playhouse for me when I was little,” she said. “That probably could have withstood an F-5 tornado. It’s probably still in the backyard.

“Whenever he built anything it was built incredibly strong,” Johanning said.

The shingled playhouse included a loft. The entry door was full-size. It had a pretend house number and resembled a real house or outbuilding. So much so that a tax assessor questioned Johanning’s parents, asking if anybody lived there, Johanning recalled, laughing.

HONEST AND TRUSTWORTHY

Those who worked with Cirelli in city government said he was a principled man with an unwavering ethical compass. Cirelli, a Democrat, worked with and supported the Republican administration of late Mayor Stanley Cmich to his own detriment.

Smuckler and Harry Klide both said Cirelli caught flack within his own political party.

“He was honest, he was trustworthy, his word was important,” recalled Klide, a former city law director and Canton Municipal Court judge. “Whatever he said, you could rely on it — he was loyal.

“I think what was important to Art was to get the job done, regardless of any personal negative political consequences.”

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.